Federation Of Economic Organizations

When 79-year-old Eishiro Saito steps down this week as chairman of Japan's most powerful business lobby, his successor will inherit a legendary organization, but one that's losing its luster. The Federation of Economic Organizations, better known as Keidanren, has gained widespread international recognition for the huge role it played in bringing Japan to its current heights of prosperity and economic development.

When 79-year-old Eishiro Saito steps down this week as chairman of Japan's most powerful business lobby, his successor will inherit a legendary organization, but one that's losing its luster. The Federation of Economic Organizations, better known as Keidanren, has gained widespread international recognition for the huge role it played in bringing Japan to its current heights of prosperity and economic development.

Slow Recovery Predicted: The leaders of Japan's four most powerful business associations said the ailing economy will improve this year but that the recovery will be spotty and slow. Shoichiro Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, predicted growth of between 2% and 3% this year after a rise of less than 2% in 1994.

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin is due to arrive in Japan on Sunday for a five-day visit expected to reflect the growing importance that Beijing attaches to its relatively warm ties with Tokyo. Jiang is to meet Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, Emperor Akihito, and leaders of Japan's influential Federation of Economic Organizations. Beijing sees Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations--established 20 years ago--as particularly important with Sino-U.S. relations seriously strained.

Japan's most powerful business organization said Wednesday that its members will increase direct investment in developing countries to aid those indebted nations. The Federation of Economic Organizations said it had established two new semigovernmental groups composed of representatives of leading Japanese corporations to promote direct investment in the Third World.

The eight-year quest of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to raise $80 million to cover renovation and expansion expenses came to a successful conclusion this week, museum officials announced Wednesday. Through the contributions of some 13,000 donors, the $80-million target--set as a goal in October, 1980--marks "an extraordinary milestone in the museum's history," according to Daniel Belin, president of the museum's board of trustees. Museum director Earl A.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged the Japanese on Monday to open their markets wider to foreigners, telling business leaders that increased competition is in the best interests of both Japan and the U.S. The Georgia Republican made his plea to heads of industry who included the chairmen of Mitsubishi Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., a spokesman for the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations said.

Toshiwo Doko; Former President of Toshiba Corp. Toshiwo Doko, 91, who helped revitalize Japanese manufacturing firms after the war. Doko served as president of Toshiba Corp., the electronics giant, and oversaw the placing of Japan's railways in private hands. Doko joined the Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipyard, later renamed Ishikawajima Heavy Industries Co., after his graduation from the Tokyo Higher Technical School.

The chairmen of Japan's major corporations Wednesday called on the government to stabilize currency rates, spur the economy and open markets wider to foreign goods to end what one industrial chief termed "a state of emergency." Anxious that trade friction and wild fluctuations of the yen will hobble economic growth, the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) appealed for a "substantial opening of the Japanese markets to rectify trade imbalances."

Japan's business leaders, apparently alarmed by the paralysis gripping their national government, are starting to take measures on their own aimed at easing trade problems with the United States and other countries. The Keidanren, the powerful federation of economic organizations, decided last week to set up its own agency to help foreign executives experiencing difficulties in exporting goods to Japan.

The Cabinet today announced its decision to allow Japanese private firms and public institutions to take part in the research phase of the U.S. "Star Wars" space weapons program. Japan's opposition Socialist Party immediately assailed the decision as an outright breach of a parliamentary resolution opposing the deployment of space-based arms.